Toy Twist Tie Packaging

May 5, 2005 8:24 AM

Every toy I buy for my daughter has a ton of those annoying wire twist ties holding them to to the package. Then there's tape....then the invisibly small rubber bands.....it's worse than CD packaging! I have to keep a pair of wire cutters in her bedroom. Why? The obvious answer is to protect the toys, but there MUST be more to this story. Is this a conspiracy to damage Chinese worker's hands? American purchasers? A Google search just finds people who hate the twist ties, no explanations
posted by Instrumental to Shopping (11 answers total)

Toy packaging which allows buyers to try the toy in the store has become significantly more prevalent over the last few years — after all, you're more likely to buy a toy, in general, if you can see what it does. At the same time, this packaging must be durable enough to survive being piled into a container ship and schlepped across the Pacific, and frustrating enough that buyers can't just remove the toy from the package and sneak out of the store. The result is the horrendously complicated packaging you describe.

In other words: toys are packaged frustratingly because you, as a consumer, demanded it (via your desire for low prices and your preference to try toys before you buy them.)
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:35 AM on May 5, 2005

Also, for something like a doll that could fit in someone's purse, they make the packages as difficult to open as possible, with multiple steps that perhaps require scissors. That way someone can't quickly yank it out of the box and shove it in their bag without being noticed.
posted by Kellydamnit at 8:45 AM on May 5, 2005

There was a question about this exact problem on here a few months back. I can't find it though.
posted by fire&wings at 8:45 AM on May 5, 2005

They do it also to make sure the little pieces are on clear display rather than rolling around in a heap, and they do it because they can -- that is, they do it because it can be so cheaply and easily done.

Also, the manufacturers hate you for buying their toys, the awfulness of which only the manufacturers fully comprehend.
posted by pracowity at 9:20 AM on May 5, 2005

Couldn't you just import some third world kid to open these for your daughter?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:35 AM on May 5, 2005

I've got a grocery bag full of those little wires out in my garage. They are GREAT for holding loose washers together. I haven't found any other amazing use for them yet, but I'm keeping them around for the day I do.

For what it's worth, I find them to be a useful bargaining tool when attempting to control my spastic children. See, the kids open a present and then TOTALLY FREAK OUT BECAUSE IT'S THE COOLEST TOY EVER! But they still have a plate full of scrambled eggs sitting on the table. So I say, "It's going to take me a few minutes to get this HUGE TRANSFORMER out of this HUGE CARTON, so why don't you go finish your breakfast, and then come back and maybe I'll be done." In the meantime, I have a bit of peace and quiet while I twist-twist-twist those stupid little wires off. And of course by the time I'm done I'm a complete nervous wreck because those WIRES ARE SO SMALL and they're not all TWISTED ON IN THE SAME DIRECTION ... GAH! Okay, I see what you mean.
posted by michaelbrown at 9:41 AM on May 5, 2005

earlier question
posted by GeekAnimator at 10:00 AM on May 5, 2005

It's shelf shout, baby. (That's a self-link.)
posted by Mo Nickels at 11:13 AM on May 5, 2005

michaelbrown, they make good cat toys too; if you don't have a cat, give some to someone who does.
posted by matildaben at 12:52 PM on May 5, 2005

Sort of on topic: I've found that a toy emergency kit, containing wire cutters, scissors, a small, phillip's head screwdriver, and an assortment of batteries, makes a great baby shower gift.
posted by bibliowench at 1:31 PM on May 5, 2005

michaelbrown, they make good cat toys too; if you don't have a cat, give some to someone who does.
posted by matildaben at 12:52 PM PST on May 5

I was going to suggest the very same thing. One of my parents' cats absolutely loves them - she grips them in her front paws, and rears up on her hind legs whilst trying to chew the thing. Looks like a squirrel, sort of.
Anyway - she loves them, and they're nice and cheap too. A bit of a pain in the toe when you find half a dozen of then inside your shoe, though... :-)
posted by Chunder at 2:52 AM on May 6, 2005